1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming system that adds previously stored images to scanned images to be printed.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a part of the recent trend of popularization of copying machines, we see copying machines equipped with fee collecting devices installed at various public places such as convenience stores. These copying machines are used by unspecified users. Therefore, if certain advertisement images are added to the users' scanned document images, the providers of such advertisements can achieve certain advertisement effects.
Under the circumstance, various image-forming systems have been proposed. For example, the Publication of Unexamined Patent Application No. JP-A-9-90832 discloses an apparatus that merges and prints advertisement images on white spaces with scanned images. This apparatus determines automatically the ratios between the copying fee to be charged to the user and the advertisement fee to be charged to the advertiser depending on the number of printed pages and the ratio as well as its location of the advertisement image relative to the total printed image.
However, the above apparatus assumes printing of advertisement images in white spaces of printed pages. Therefore, if the user does not wish merging of advertisements with document images or the pages do not have any white space, it is impossible to print advertisement images even if the user wanted. Moreover, advertisement images have to be relatively small to fit into limited areas of white spaces, so that advertisement effects are also limited. Larger advertisement images attract more attentions of viewers, and their effects will be greater.
This leads us to the idea of printing large advertisements on the backside of the sheet on which the document image is printed or on a separate sheet. However, printing on the backside of a printed sheet or on a separate sheet makes the printing time longer and reduces the productivity of printing. As a result, the user may choose to stay away from the benefit of advertisement printing function to avoid the reduction of the productivity. The apparatus disclosed by the above publication fails to recognize the need for altering the fees to the user as well as to the advertiser based oh the productivity.